DOJ cites process before tagging Leviste ‘fugitive’
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday withheld calling Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste a “fugitive from justice” in connection with his criminal case, saying only the court may officially put that tag on an accused.
The DOJ’s clarification was directed at the statement made by National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag on Wednesday that the lawmaker may already be considered a fugitive since the court had issued an arrest warrant and started “looking for him.”
It was the second time the agency corrected Matibag on the case, after the NBI chief also mistakenly announced on Wednesday that Leviste had already posted bail.
SC ruling
At a press conference, Herbert Abugan, senior deputy state prosecutor, explained that declaring an accused a fugitive requires a process.
“The court will give him an opportunity to appear before it at the scheduled hearing. And until then, we will see the next steps of the case,” said Abugan.
A Supreme Court ruling in November last year clarified that the courts may declare, either motu proprio (on its own) or in response to a motion by a party, an individual as a fugitive. It also defined a fugitive from justice as someone who flees not only after conviction but also after being charged in court.
“While an analysis of jurisprudence reveals a variance of who could be considered a fugitive from justice, it is undeniable that the common and indispensable element is the intent to evade prosecution or punishment,” the high court then said in the decision.
When accused or convicted persons are declared as such, they are stripped of privileges to seek judicial relief until they finally surrender.
As to Matibag’s earlier statements, Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said: “That’s the NBI talking, but we … the prosecutors control where the journey of the case will go.”
The justice chief said asking the court to declare a person a fugitive, seeking the cancellation of his or her passport, or requesting a red notice from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) are among the steps prosecutors can take to compel the appearance of the accused.
On Oct. 5, Branch 235 of the Makati Regional Trial Court issued a warrant of arrest on Leviste and two others— Hazel Iris Lafuente Buencamino and Irma Flaminiano, both officers of the Leviste-owned Solar Para Sa Bayan Corp. (SPBC).
In a complaint initiated by the Department of Energy, they are being accused of violating the Public Service Act over the company’s alleged failure to deliver the power supply committed under the contracts awarded by the government.
‘No knowledge’
Buencamino and Flaminiano have posted bail at P72,000 each. The court has scheduled the arraignment for the case on Oct. 26.
Vida earlier described as “peculiar” Matibag’s pronouncement that Leviste had already posted bail, noting that the lawmaker was reportedly still in France with his mother, Sen. Loren Legarda, after they left the country on separate flights on Aug. 2.
On Thursday, the family’s spokesperson, lawyer Tony La Viña, said Leviste intends to post bail and address the charges against his company “when he comes back.”
But La Viña said he still had “no knowledge about his date of return’’ and that all he knew for now was that “he will come home with his mother Loren.”
Legarda, according to information relayed to the Senate, is undergoing treatment for a lung and autoimmune condition in France.
According to La Viña, the SPBC franchise is exempt from the Public Service Act because the franchise was “not a public utility.”
He also argued that “the franchise was not implemented because the Department of Energy did not issue implementing rules and regulations and identify places to implement it, which the franchise law required. So it was automatically revoked after two years.” —WITH A REPORT FROM KENNETH CHRISTIANE BASILIO
